2 nights without electricity (so far)

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Janknitz
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2 nights without electricity (so far)

Post by Janknitz » Thu Oct 10, 2019 5:36 pm

I'm miserable, but at least there's coffee!!

PG&E did indeed turn the power off for 800,000 people in Northern California to "prevent wildfires" (some of us have our doubts . . . the weather was nothing like that horrible day 2 years ago exactly)

The power went off at 2:30 a.m. Wednesday morning and we were just notified this afternoon (Thursday) that they will begin turning power on but it can take as long as 4 days for everyone to get their power back. I suspect (pray) ours will be turned back on before bedtime tonight, but not soon enough to save our perishable foods. :(

The last two nights have been miserable because I didn't get a power backup in place (my fault, but no time for the wicked). I wore my CPAP until the power went off Tuesday /Wednesday night and then proceeded to wake every few minutes with apneas. I kept trying to find a better position. Never found a good one, but every time I was on my left side for some reason they were really frequent. (At the time I was tested I slept only on my right side and had an AHI in the 80's!). I woke up feeling like a zombie, and that was only half the night.

To make matters worse it was the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur which requires a dry, total fast from before sundown on Tuesday until well after sundown on Wednesday. No sleep, no caffeine, and no food made me very dull. Every time we sat for a few minutes in the service I was drifting off. I slept through the sermon (very rude!) but I couldn't help it. Our synagogue, luckily, was on the same grid as the hospital and it had power and lights. And we didn't have to open the fridge at home except once to feed the dog.

By the time we got home to eat and break our fast after 26 hours (no food, no fluids) it was close to 9 p.m. We had to rummage for stuff in the fridge (still cold) to heat up on the stove, and eating that late plus dairy, plus some dietary cheats (my bad!) set me up for a lot of GERD. Sleeping with CPAP really helps my GERD, and with no electricity my major tool for that was gone, even though I did take meds.

Every half hour I woke up with horrible reflux and in between the apneas would wake me. I kept raising my head, but it didn't help. I tried sleeping on my left side--didn't help. Around 3:30 a.m. I just gave up. I sat up and read and never got back to sleep.

This morning the fridge stuff was warm so my husband's job for the day was to clear out the perishables while I'm working. If we don't get power tonight the frozen stuff is going to have to be tossed. No hot water for showers so I had to heat water on the (gas) stove to wash my hair in the sink and give myself a "spit" bath.

Thank goodness I ground coffee before the power went out, so at least I have caffeine to get me through the day. Praying I don't have another CPAP less night!

PS, we don't have a working recliner or anything that I can use to sleep sitting up, and in any case I STILL have apneas and reflux even sitting fully upright. Not a fun few days.
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chunkyfrog
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Re: 2 nights without electricity (so far)

Post by chunkyfrog » Thu Oct 10, 2019 6:21 pm

My sympathies.
I hope your electricity fairy returns soon.
In the meanwhile, be grateful for your gas range and water taps that work.
We switched to all--electric several years ago.
Fingers crossed for everyone.

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Janknitz
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Re: 2 nights without electricity (so far)

Post by Janknitz » Thu Oct 10, 2019 6:33 pm

In the meanwhile, be grateful for your gas range and water taps that work.
Oh yeah! It could be a lot worse. We lived on the Big Island of Hawaii once upon a time and our water system, was a catchment tank with water pumped up to the house. We had rolling blackouts all the time there, and during blackouts no only didn't we have electricity but we had no toilets or running water either. Fun times! Fortunately, the rolling blackouts were scheduled, typically lasted only an hour in the early evening. We would schedule dinner around that time and eat by lantern light. It was early in our marriage then, and sort of romantic. And no CPAP in the good old days. :D
What you need to know before you meet your DME http://tinyurl.com/2arffqx
Taming the Mirage Quattro http://tinyurl.com/2ft3lh8
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Miss Emerita
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Re: 2 nights without electricity (so far)

Post by Miss Emerita » Thu Oct 10, 2019 6:49 pm

Well, I guess if you needed any kind of reminder why you use CPAP, you've got it! We haven't lost our electricity (yet), though neighbors one block over have. I've been wondering what I would do about sleep if the power went out, and you've given a great answer here.

But those short outages are kind of dreamy, aren't they?
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SDBud
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Re: 2 nights without electricity (so far)

Post by SDBud » Fri Oct 11, 2019 12:16 am

Janknitz wrote:
Thu Oct 10, 2019 5:36 pm
I'm miserable, but at least there's coffee!!

PG&E did indeed turn the power off for 800,000 people in Northern California to "prevent wildfires" (some of us have our doubts . .
WHAT the hell DID you expect, when the Courts have ruled them liable for even the slightest chance their lines caused a fire??
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Janknitz
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Re: 2 nights without electricity (so far)

Post by Janknitz » Fri Oct 11, 2019 1:07 am

I looked at my Apple Watch Sleep report from last night. It was pretty gnarly. No deep sleep at all, very restless and long awake sessions. I don’t depend on those reports for accuracy, but certainly reflected my experience.

My husband said it was the first time he heard me snore in a very long time.

We have our electricity back tonight so I am about to mask up. Hope you all sleep well.
What you need to know before you meet your DME http://tinyurl.com/2arffqx
Taming the Mirage Quattro http://tinyurl.com/2ft3lh8
Swift FX Fitting Guide http://tinyurl.com/22ur9ts
Don't Pay that Upcharge! http://tinyurl.com/2ck48rm

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K5MOW
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Re: 2 nights without electricity (so far)

Post by K5MOW » Fri Oct 11, 2019 5:46 am

Janknitz wrote:
Fri Oct 11, 2019 1:07 am
I looked at my Apple Watch Sleep report from last night. It was pretty gnarly. No deep sleep at all, very restless and long awake sessions. I don’t depend on those reports for accuracy, but certainly reflected my experience.

My husband said it was the first time he heard me snore in a very long time.

We have our electricity back tonight so I am about to mask up. Hope you all sleep well.
I hope you get power back soon. I am not familiar with the Apple Watch sleep report. I do you have a Apple Watch but I am an Watch enthusiast I have many many watches and wear different ones each day. I have never worn one at night however. Maybe I will try my Apple Watch tonight. Where is this setting or option to view the sleep Report.

Roger
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Roger

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K5MOW
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Re: 2 nights without electricity (so far)

Post by K5MOW » Fri Oct 11, 2019 5:48 am

Janknitz wrote:
Fri Oct 11, 2019 1:07 am
I looked at my Apple Watch Sleep report from last night. It was pretty gnarly. No deep sleep at all, very restless and long awake sessions. I don’t depend on those reports for accuracy, but certainly reflected my experience.

My husband said it was the first time he heard me snore in a very long time.

We have our electricity back tonight so I am about to mask up. Hope you all sleep well.
I hope you get power back soon. I am not familiar with the Apple Watch sleep report. I do you have a Apple Watch but I am an Watch enthusiast I have many many watches and wear different ones each day. I have never worn one at night however. Maybe I will try my Apple Watch tonight. Where is this setting or option to view the sleep Report.

Roger
Moderate to Severe Sleep Apnea

Airsense 10 Autoset AirStart 10 CPAP

Mirage Quattro Full Face Mask

Roger

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K5MOW
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Re: 2 nights without electricity (so far)

Post by K5MOW » Fri Oct 11, 2019 5:49 am

Sorry I did not mean to post it twice. I actually don’t know what happened.

Roger
Moderate to Severe Sleep Apnea

Airsense 10 Autoset AirStart 10 CPAP

Mirage Quattro Full Face Mask

Roger

nanwilson
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Re: 2 nights without electricity (so far)

Post by nanwilson » Fri Oct 11, 2019 9:28 am

I have a couple of suggestions for when you loose power. I have a battery set up for my apap when needed and for evening power to read or whatever... I have several portable solar lights around my garden, that I just bring in and put in a plant pot or carry one around with me when I move through the house. To be able to cook … I use my BBQ out on my deck :P .. easy peazy. I don't care if I loose power as I am set up to do without :wink: The first week I got my apap we lost power for 14 hours the first day/night and 16 the next….. I learned VERY fast . I can now go for 4 or 5 days on the battery and I just put the solar lights back outside during the day to re-charge, also I keep a spare full BBQ tank out on the deck.... "just in case".
Good luck to those in California without power, I hope this outage doesn't last too long.

Cheers
Nan
Started cpap in 2010.. still at it with great results.

Janknitz
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Location: Northern California

Re: 2 nights without electricity (so far)

Post by Janknitz » Fri Oct 11, 2019 12:41 pm

I hope you get power back soon. I am not familiar with the Apple Watch sleep report. I do you have a Apple Watch but I am an Watch enthusiast I have many many watches and wear different ones each day. I have never worn one at night however. Maybe I will try my Apple Watch tonight. Where is this setting or option to view the sleep Report.
Power came back for us at 6 p.m. last night. Hooray!!! Some people in the county still do not have power today.

Sleep tracking is not native to Apple Watches (yet). I have two apps, and the one that seems to give the best information is Autosleep. It shows restlessness, time awake, heart rate, and deep sleep. It detects (to some degree) sleep, so I don't have to remember to tell it I'm going to bed or when I wake up. The accuracy is fair, it wouldn't replace a sleep test. But I think it shows trends really well. Last night with CPAP I had approximately 3:41 hours of deep sleep out of 7:52 minutes of sleep compared to ZERO deep sleep the night before without C-Pap.

My husband has a FitBit and it has built-in sleep tracking that seems pretty good.
What you need to know before you meet your DME http://tinyurl.com/2arffqx
Taming the Mirage Quattro http://tinyurl.com/2ft3lh8
Swift FX Fitting Guide http://tinyurl.com/22ur9ts
Don't Pay that Upcharge! http://tinyurl.com/2ck48rm

Janknitz
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Re: 2 nights without electricity (so far)

Post by Janknitz » Fri Oct 11, 2019 12:54 pm

nanwilson wrote:
Fri Oct 11, 2019 9:28 am
I have a couple of suggestions for when you loose power. I have a battery set up for my apap when needed and for evening power to read or whatever... I have several portable solar lights around my garden, that I just bring in and put in a plant pot or carry one around with me when I move through the house. To be able to cook … I use my BBQ out on my deck :P .. easy peazy. I don't care if I loose power as I am set up to do without :wink: The first week I got my apap we lost power for 14 hours the first day/night and 16 the next….. I learned VERY fast . I can now go for 4 or 5 days on the battery and I just put the solar lights back outside during the day to re-charge, also I keep a spare full BBQ tank out on the deck.... "just in case".
Good luck to those in California without power, I hope this outage doesn't last too long.

Cheers
Nan
I'd love a tutorial (step by step for dummies!) on how to set up a battery system for PAP starting with a list of supplies to purchase and then step by step what to do, battery maintenance, safety, and bonus points if it also includes instructions how to set it up to recharge by solar. Anybody game to help me with that (it would be a great resource for the forum!)???

Are there only certain machines that will work with battery hookup?


Thanks for your good wishes, Nan. Power came back last night at 6 p.m. and I had a great night's sleep. I feel much better this morning, also after some good hot coffee!

We are lucky to have a gas stove, so with a lighter (the long BBQ kind) we were at least able to use our stove and heat water. I put water just under boiling into two thermal jugs yesterday morning for dish washing, and the water in them was still hot this morning, even though we didn't need it! But it was a cold morning (for us wimpy Californians) and we found that our furnace won't ignite. They can't come out until next week to service it, but we have been through the worst of winter without heat before and now that we have electricity we have space heaters to take off the morning chill. (Mid-forties-- not THAT cold in the mornings yet, but we live in California and we are wimps. I hate to get out of bed when the bed is warm and the room is cold!).

When we lived in Hawaii where there were regular (short!) blackouts we had a kerosene lamp, but I think I will shop for a battery (or solar rechargable) powered lantern.
What you need to know before you meet your DME http://tinyurl.com/2arffqx
Taming the Mirage Quattro http://tinyurl.com/2ft3lh8
Swift FX Fitting Guide http://tinyurl.com/22ur9ts
Don't Pay that Upcharge! http://tinyurl.com/2ck48rm

prodigyplace
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Re: 2 nights without electricity (so far)

Post by prodigyplace » Fri Oct 11, 2019 1:41 pm

i have a system I set up in case of power outages. i tested on battery for couple of days but, fortunately have not needed it. The battery shpuld be able to run the CPAP for 2 or 3 nights without heated hose or heated humidifier (passover should work).

Resmed DC power converter https://www.cpap.com/productpage/resmed ... 0-machines

12 volt 35 AH battery https://www.harborfreight.com/12-volt-3 ... 64102.html

solar panel kit (also has some lights) https://www.harborfreight.com/100-watt- ... 63585.html

The solar panels can keep the battery charged & ready for use too.

This solution does not help us for drinking water from our well. We have a pond to draw on for toilet flushing though.

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chunkyfrog
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Re: 2 nights without electricity (so far)

Post by chunkyfrog » Fri Oct 11, 2019 1:56 pm

PG&E has had Californians by the short hairs for way too long
--thanks to their long-standing MONOPOLY.
There are laws . . .

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Janknitz
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Re: 2 nights without electricity (so far)

Post by Janknitz » Fri Oct 11, 2019 2:15 pm

prodigyplace wrote:
Fri Oct 11, 2019 1:41 pm
i have a system I set up in case of power outages. i tested on battery for couple of days but, fortunately have not needed it. The battery shpuld be able to run the CPAP for 2 or 3 nights without heated hose or heated humidifier (passover should work).

Resmed DC power converter https://www.cpap.com/productpage/resmed ... 0-machines

12 volt 35 AH battery https://www.harborfreight.com/12-volt-3 ... 64102.html

solar panel kit (also has some lights) https://www.harborfreight.com/100-watt- ... 63585.html

The solar panels can keep the battery charged & ready for use too.

This solution does not help us for drinking water from our well. We have a pond to draw on for toilet flushing though.
Thank you!

When we lived on catchment in Hawaii, we'd fill the bathtub before planned outages and use a bucket to flush the toilet. We had bottled water for drinking and kitchen use during power outages. Luckily, they were short so I didn't have to do the pioneer sponge bath routine.
What you need to know before you meet your DME http://tinyurl.com/2arffqx
Taming the Mirage Quattro http://tinyurl.com/2ft3lh8
Swift FX Fitting Guide http://tinyurl.com/22ur9ts
Don't Pay that Upcharge! http://tinyurl.com/2ck48rm